How is stress affecting your health?

Everyone has stress in his or her life. Sometimes this is good stress, which motivates and gives us the driving force to accomplish what we otherwise might not. Quite often however, we are chronically subjected to stressors that affect us in negative ways. Stress can be either emotional, physical or a combination of both. It is not uncommon to find ourselves working long hours in a job that we don't really love. For mothers in the work force this is compounded by the dual responsibilities of work and family. Chronic stress leads to the build up of chemicals in the body, which at higher than normal levels become toxic. Stress also depletes the body of nutrients leading to a deficient state.

Our bodies have been programmed to respond to an immediate threat, such as a lion. This threat would stimulate the pituitary and adrenal glands releasing hormones such as adrenaline. Thus giving us the extra boost to either run like the wind or fight. I personally would run like the wind! This is referred to as the flight or fight response and is controlled by activation of the sympathic nervous system, one part of the autonomic nervous system. As we have seen the sympathetic part is responsible for activity, i.e. increased heart rate, respiration, etc, allowing for flight or fight. The parasympathetic nervous system, the second part of the autonomic nervous system, is responsible for digestion and assimilation of nutrients the building blocks for cellular repair and health. In our society, by driving in traffic, working long hours, getting into confrontations at the office or home, we are constantly exposing ourselves to the 'lion', maintaining a state of hyperactivity for the sympathetic nervous system.

Raymond Francis, in his book Never Be Sick Again says that "stress chemicals can lead to damaged immunity, increased susceptibility to infectious disease, damaged blood cells, maldigestion, sleep disturbance, water retention, fat deposits, hypoglycemia, ulcers, anxiety, high blood pressure, cardiac irregularities, lower pain threshold, lower sperm count, reduced sexual performance, anxiety and depression." Some common signs of stress are poor sleep, headaches, frequent colds or allergies, anxiety, poor digestion, irritability, and fatigue.

Like fish in an aquarium, our cells are swimming in a solution that has a delicate balance. Stress causes an acidic condition in our blood, which has a negative impact on cellular function. Optimally we should have a slightly alkaline environment. You can test the alkaline or acidity for yourself at home by using pH strips and testing your morning urine before eating. Optimal pH for this test is in the 6.5 - 7 range. The normal pH inside a cell is 7.4. Diet has a large affect on how are bodies handle the stress we put it under. Learning about food combining and the effects of certain foods can help protect you from the acidic environment naturally caused by stress. There are a number of books at your local bookstore on balancing your diet to balance your pH.

If you are feeling any of the signs of stress mentioned above there are things you can do to protect yourself. The most obvious and most difficult is lifestyle change. This may mean changing careers, or possibly ending a relationship that is unhealthy. Breathing exercises and meditation are now known to help alkalize the blood thereby reducing the affects of stress. Also, acupuncture balances many systems in the body, thereby reducing the toxic affects of stress. Acupuncture helps restore balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. So start taking control of your health now, change the things that you can, work on eating healthier and when that is not enough, give us a call at Nashua Acupuncture and we can help get you back on the road to health. We offer acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, and coming soon will be qi gong breathing and therapeutic massage.